Perth adviser given four-year ban

ASIC undertook a surveillance of Lawrence O’Neill from when he was an authorised representative of Godfrey Pembroke Limited, owned by National Australia Bank, from 2002 to 2013 and Wealthsure Financial Services from 2013 to 2019.

It found that Mr O’Neill failed to comply with financial services laws and is not adequately trained to provide financial services.

Further, a review of Mr O’Neill’s advice files revealed that he did not properly consider his clients’ circumstances or objectives and, in some cases, did not consider their existing products when providing personal advice. He also failed to explain why ongoing advice was required for some of his clients.

ASIC also discovered that Mr O’Neill failed to disclose to his clients his relevant associations and relationships with product issuers, or to clearly explain the benefits he and his licensee stood to gain if the clients proceeded with his recommendations.

The banning of Mr O’Neill will be recorded on both ASIC's Financial Adviser Register and its Banned and Disqualified Persons Register.

ASIC said Mr O’Neill has the right to appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for a review of ASIC’s decision.

Adrian Flores

Adrian Flores is a deputy editor at Momentum Media, focusing mainly on banking, wealth management and financial services. He has also written for Public Accountant, Accountants Daily and The CEO Magazine.

You can contact him on [email protected].